


The Haunt of Cair Paravel

by rosefox



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Night, ToT: Monster Mash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-26 00:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12545212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosefox/pseuds/rosefox
Summary: The first night back in Narnia, Lucy and Edmund have trouble sleeping.





	The Haunt of Cair Paravel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eliotkeats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotkeats/gifts).



> This takes place at the end of chapter two of _Prince Caspian_.

Despite the fire, the Narnian air was chilly, and the scent of the sea made Lucy restless with memories of long-ago adventures. Finally she rose, tiptoed past the others, and went out to the courtyard so as not to wake them. In the old days, when she had a sleepless night, she would have gone for a walk on the parapets. But Cair Paravel was a ruin now, like the Roman walls, and she was a Roman brought forward in time to gawk at the overgrown remains of a mighty empire.

She was unsurprised when Edmund joined her; he always knew her mind at times like this. They paced the courtyard together, finding their footing by moonlight, needing no words.

Now and again Lucy caught glimpses of movement, figures that glowed faintly before slipping away into the night. Some resembled the larger Talking beasts. Others looked like dryads and water-nymphs. Edmund nodded to one. "Do you think they're the same ghosts who haunted Cair Paravel back... back then?" he asked quietly. "Or new ones?"

"No way to know, I suppose," Lucy said. "I've never been able to tell one from another."

"Peter tried to talk to one once," Edmund said. "It walked right through him and disappeared."

"I tried too. I wish I could know their stories. But they never spoke to me."

 _They are not Talking ghosts,_ a voice said from beneath their feet. _But I am._

They stopped abruptly. Lucy reached for Edmund's hand. "And who are you?" she whispered.

_I am the Ghost of Cair Paravel._

"Oh," Lucy said, feeling her heart break all over again. "Oh, Cair Paravel, I am so sorry."

_You are as kind as ever, Queen Lucy. I remember your footsteps._

Edmund knelt down, drawing Lucy with him, and ran his finger along the cracked flagstone. "What happened here?" he asked. "Who allowed this to happen?" There was a touch of Edmund the Just in his voice now, as though the perpetrators could somehow be brought before him for royal judgment in the Great Hall that no longer was.

 _Allowed? Why, no one. Nor did anyone cause it to happen._ The Ghost sighed a little. _Endings come to us all, King Edmund. Like women and men and beasts, like songs and stories, even kingdoms and castles must end._

"But you're still here, even if the castle's not," Edmund said. 

In a small voice, Lucy asked, "Will you end someday too?"

_Like all spirits of Narnia, I will someday make the long journey to Aslan's Country. But that time is not yet._

Lucy settled herself cross-legged and placed both hands flat on the chilly stones. "Cair Paravel," she said with tears in her eyes, "old friend, how can we comfort you?"

 _I have no sorrows, my queen. You weep for yourself, not for me. My purpose is as it ever was: to protect the kings and queens of Narnia. I will serve it as best I may, in whatever form I take, until Aslan calls me across the sea._

Edmund wiped his eyes and offered Lucy his handkerchief. She took it and sniffled into it a bit.

 _But perhaps I may comfort you,_ the Ghost said. _Shall we tell some tales of the old days, when my walls stood high and brave, when pennants flew from the towers and horses pawed the very ground where you now sit? Shall we share our memories, and renew our acquaintance?_

"Yes, oh, let's," Lucy said eagerly, though there was still a catch in her voice.

More soberly, Edmund said, "And I'd like to know what we've missed while we've been gone. Who dug that channel? Who rules in Narnia now, and from where?" He hesitated. "Does anyone still live here?"

_Many others can speak to you of recent events,_ the castle said. The siblings glanced at each other, wondering at all that those words implied. _But none will recall the distant past that we shared. Do not waste this opportunity, your majesties. It will not come again._

"Of course we will not waste it, dear Cair Paravel," Lucy said warmly. She tried to think of what a castle would most like to talk about. "What was—what was the grandest ball we held?" 

"The one for the second Calormene ambassador, I should think," Edmund said, catching on quickly. "When Rabadash had given up on courting Su and recalled his cut-throat negotiators, and we got that nice old man instead, Ahmeen. Do you remember? He trounced us all at chess." 

_I remember it well. His staff were most well-behaved. But his naughty little granddaughter carved her name into her bedroom wall, and I bore the scar for years._

They gossiped and laughed and wept until Lucy's eyes grew heavy and Edmund yawned. _Rest now, your majesties,_ the Ghost said. _Rest as though you still slept on feather beds. And do not fear the other spirits. They cannot harm you. Nothing can, while I stand guard._

"I didn't fear them," Edmund said stoutly, but he was glad for the reassurance. 

They made their way back to their makeshift pallets. As Lucy drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard the castle murmur, _Two kings and two queens in Cair Paravel again. Now all will be brought to rights._


End file.
